Much research and medical effort has been devoted to the treatment of open wounds in the body. Almost immediately, starting within seconds after the skin barrier formed by the epidermis and dermis are breached; the body begins a process of healing and repair.
Here many different biochemical systems operate. Platelets start to adhere to exposed collagen fibers on the damaged tissue, releasing various factors that in turn activate other platelets, as well as portions of the blood coagulation system. Tissue factor and phospholipids, released by damaged blood vessel endothelium cells in the vicinity of the breach, form natural thromboplastin which stimulates a series of blood coagulation proteases that start to generate strands of fibrin which in turn adhere to the activated platelets, and start to form a plug, needed to control bleeding and reestablish hemostasis.
In a small wound, where there is a proportionally large amount of damaged tissue relative to the volume of the wound, this process operates quickly and efficiently. However for larger wounds, where the ratio of the damaged tissue relative to the volume of the wound, is less, this process operates at a much slower rate. Thus the time required for formation of a platelet-fibrin plug may be unacceptably long, resulting in a substantially larger (and occasionally lethal) amount of blood loss, as well as greater opportunity for pathogen entry and subsequent infection and damage.
In a slower inflammatory reaction, usually occurring after hemostasis has been established, various white blood cells, called phagocytes (dendritic cells, macrophages, monocytes, neutrophils) begin the process of engulfing and removing pathogens and debris, and in the process releasing various growth factors that start to stimulate cells near the wound to begin to proliferate.
In the proliferation stage, which usually takes place over a number of days or even weeks, fibroblasts and new blood vessels grow, a new matrix is established, and epithelial cells grow and start to reestablish the epidermis.
Finally, during the remodeling phase, collagen fibrils which were originally placed in a rather haphazard pattern during the earlier stages of the healing process, are realigned to better match up with the lines of tension in that particular area, and excess cells undergo apoptosis and are removed.
Although the wound healing process is thus a long and complex multi-stage operation, from the standpoint of immediate medical care, emergency medicine and surgery, the initial stages of establishing hemostasis are particularly critical. Thus much prior art has been devoted to these areas, particularly in the area of bandage and wound dressing technology.
In addition to the prior art devoted to various type of bandage and wound dressing technology, other prior art has focused on the use of various chemical and biochemical methods to promote hemostasis. One method is the use of various blood coagulation stimulating materials (often proteins such as fibrinogen, thrombin, and/or other coagulation factors) to produce hemostatic bandages or foams.